<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Untitled Outsider Piece by MundaneChampagne</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27585913">Untitled Outsider Piece</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MundaneChampagne/pseuds/MundaneChampagne'>MundaneChampagne</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dishonored (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Gen, The Outsider becomes human, Work Up For Adoption</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:07:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,176</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27585913</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MundaneChampagne/pseuds/MundaneChampagne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Beginning of an 'Outsider Becomes Human' story I wrote in 2014.</p>
<p>This work is abandoned, and is up for adoption! If anyone wants to take this and run with it, or use any part of it, please feel free. I just wanna see what you make.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Untitled Outsider Piece</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So it's been a year, folks. </p>
<p>I haven't really done much fandom or writing this year. But I was looking for a file tonight (I might've misplaced it when moving laptops yikes), and I found this instead. I still like it, so here you go.</p>
<p>This work is abandoned, and is up for adoption. If anyone wants to take this and run with it, or use any part of it, please feel free. I just wanna see what you make.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He stumbled through the back alleys of Dunwall, soaked to the bone, numb and shivering.</p>
<p>The rain didn't stop. He wasn't sure how long he'd lain in that alley after Slackjaw's boys caught him and beat him. Every step was accompanied by a sharp stab of pain in his ribs.</p>
<p>He began to suspect that he was lost.</p>
<p>The streetlights reflected in the cobbled streets. This area looked a bit more populated. He didn't know what to do. The possibility of laying down and dying never presented itself as an option.</p>
<p>The night seemed never-ending.</p>
<p>He needed a place to go, that much was certain. Somewhere he could sit, shelter from the rain and the street gangs, and nurse his injuries (this thing, pain, so <em>novel</em>—he suddenly understood why people went to such lengths to avoid it).</p>
<p>Slowly it dawned on him that there was only one person in this city that would know who he was, and potentially be amenable to taking him in.</p>
<p>And that person was at Dunwall Tower.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>The guards wouldn't let him in.</p>
<p>Unsurprising, perhaps, but he was stymied. He wasn't used to resistance.</p>
<p>"Beat it, kid," the guard muttered.</p>
<p>"I need to see Corvo Attano."</p>
<p>"Doubt he'll see you, scrap."</p>
<p>"We're old friends."</p>
<p>"And how do I know that? You could be any cutpurse."</p>
<p>He furrowed his brow in frustration. "Tell him—tell him that his friend who finds him fascinating is here."</p>
<p>The guard grunted.</p>
<p>"I'm not moving until you do so."</p>
<p>"You'll end up in Coldridge sooner or later," the guard said.</p>
<p>"Wait a minute." The other guard, in much shabbier clothing, chimed in. "Ain't no harm in <em>delivering </em>the message now, is there? Attano will just kick his scrawny ass to the curb if it's a fake."</p>
<p>The first guard scratched his stubble. "That would be entertaining."</p>
<p>He stood, watching the gears churn in these mens' heads.</p>
<p>"Go geddim," the first guard eventually said. "I'll keep an eye on this one."</p>
<p>There was nothing to do but wait. The rain kept pouring down. He could feel the drops run down his face, almost like a person crying. He wasn't crying.</p>
<p>At last, he could hear the sound of footsteps. He looked up, watching a shadow emerge from the dark.</p>
<p>For a few minutes, he and Corvo just stared at each other.</p>
<p>"Well then, M'lord?" the guard asked. "What do you want to do with him?"</p>
<p>Corvo held up a hand, silencing the guard. The stare went on for a few more moments.</p>
<p>He found himself with an uncomfortable and unaccustomed need to blink.</p>
<p>Corvo finally broke the stare. "What are you doing here?"</p>
<p>"What does it look like?" He hadn't intended to sound so snippy. "I need to get out of the rain."</p>
<p>Corvo rested his face in his hand. "Just go back to where you came from, won't you? I don't want to deal with your shenanigans tonight."</p>
<p>"I can't!" he shouted, a temper he hadn't known that he had bursting forth. Corvo looked up, startled. "I can't," he repeated, quieter this time. "Circumstances have—ah—turned against me."</p>
<p>"Now," he said, "I'm cold, and my ribs hurt, and I would really like to have a roof over my head."</p>
<p>"And you're the only person I could think to come to," he whispered.</p>
<p>Look at him, begging a person he'd once played like a fiddle.</p>
<p>Corvo sighed, brushing rain out of his eyes. "Fine."</p>
<p>He couldn't resist turning back to the guards with a nasty grin as he followed Corvo through the courtyard and up to the tower.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>He and the Outsider were sitting in the same room together, like normal people.</p>
<p>He was still reeling from surprise. Finding the Voidic deity on his doorstep, his eyes dark but <em>normal</em>—with whites like anyone else—and between the lack of strange light and flickering shadows, he looked surprisingly young.</p>
<p>Like a kid, in fact.</p>
<p>He was short, too. Corvo had to bite back a chuckle as he suddenly figured out why the Outsider was always hovering above the ground.</p>
<p>He couldn't be more than 14.</p>
<p>And emotions that he never thought he would see on this particular face. The Outsider was slumped in a fancy chair, ruining the upholstery with his wet clothing. He was wrapped in several towels, and was still shivering.</p>
<p>"What happened?"</p>
<p>The Outsider didn't look him in the eye, for once. His eyes focused resolutely on the carpet.</p>
<p>"I got usurped," he muttered.</p>
<p>Corvo raised his eyebrows. "I didn't know that could happen. Aren't you supposed to be the Void's god?"</p>
<p>"The Void doesn't always have a deity," the Outsider said. "Sometimes it will go a long time like that. Then sometimes it will draw someone or something from the world to be its representation. Like me."</p>
<p>"So you were human once?"</p>
<p>"Four thousand years ago. I'm a little out of practice."</p>
<p>Corvo chuckled.</p>
<p>The Outsider continued. "Voidic gods can be killed, can be cast out, or destroyed." He grimaced. "It wasn't my choice. I got <em>usurped.</em>"</p>
<p>"So you said."</p>
<p>"And I landed here."</p>
<p>"Yes."</p>
<p>"In the rain."</p>
<p>"Yes." Corvo stood. "I really don't know what you expect from me. I can shelter you for a few nights, but I'm pretty sure some eyebrows would be raised if some kid with strangely familiar knowledge of the Void started living at the Tower."</p>
<p>The Outsider scowled. "I'm not a kid. I'm nearly four thousand years old." He looked up. "Besides, this should be temporary. I don't intend on getting stuck here for the rest of a mortal life. I'm going to take back my rightful place. She'll rue the day she decided to cross me."</p>
<p>"She?"</p>
<p>The scowl deepened. "I think you've had dealings with her. Vera Moray."</p>
<p>Corvo racked his brain. The name rang a bell, but who was it?</p>
<p>And then it hit him. "Granny Rags?" he said, laughing out loud. "You got replaced by that old witch?"</p>
<p>The Outsider glared. "She may be a tiresome old hag, but she's got power. Biggest mistake I ever made in my time."</p>
<p>"And you. You'll regret it too if I don't go back. That mark on your hand? You take a look at it recently?"</p>
<p>Corvo frowned and pulled off his gloves. Sure enough, the mark had faded.</p>
<p>"You have nothing left without me." The Outsider's tone was mocking. "No power of your own. Your runes? Useless bits of bone. She's got something new of her own," he said bitterly, "and I don't think anyone's going to like it. She's surprisingly self-destructive. And I don't think she'd hesitate to take the world with her."</p>
<p>Corvo's hand hesitated in pulling back on the gloves. "This sounds like more than just a matter of giving you shelter for a few days."</p>
<p>The Outsider stared him in the eye and suddenly smiled, a predatory grin. "So you're offering to help me, then? I would appreciate it greatly. We call things settled, then. I helped you out, you help me. No debts."</p>
<p>"I was never in debt to you," Corvo said, throwing aside the gloves as he realized he didn't need them anymore. "You said that there were no strings attached when you marked me."</p>
<p>"Psh." The Outsider stood and unwound himself from the towels. "If you don't help me, you'll never fly across rooftops again, dance through time as it bends itself to your will—"</p>
<p>Corvo groaned. "I'm going to regret this."</p>
<p>The Outsider's face lit up.</p>
<p>"But under one condition—you listen to me for a change and do what I say. You're not used to this world. I don't want you putting yourself or anyone else in danger." He grabbed the towels and pulled the Outsider in close. "You're my ward," Corvo continued. "Your parents are old friends and I'm introducing you to high society, doing them a favor. You stick to that story, or I'll put a blade between your shoulders and damn the consequences."</p>
<p>"That's fine."</p>
<p>Corvo dropped him. "And you <em>never</em> leave my sight."</p>
<p>The Outsider carefully readjusted the towels. "Good. Fine."</p>
<p>Corvo pinched the bridge of his nose. Mortality had done something to the Outsider. He never imagined that the god could be so <em>human</em>. And annoying. Well, more annoying than he already was.</p>
<p>A half hour later, Corvo had a servant set up a small cot in his chambers. He also managed to find a pageboy uniform that looked like it would fit. "Go take a bath," Corvo said. "I don't want you catching cold."</p>
<p>The Outsider stood by the cot, shedding the pile of towels and shivering. "A bath?"</p>
<p>Corvo snorted. "I'm sure you know how, considering how much time you've watched humanity going about their lives."</p>
<p>The Outsider didn't protest. "And one other thing," Corvo said. The Outsider paused, his hand on the bathroom door. "You need a name. I can't call you the Outsider in public."</p>
<p>The Outsider tilted his head, considering. "I used to be called Eskalt. A few centuries back."</p>
<p>"That's Tyvian," Corvo said. "And it means 'ice cold'. That's not a name. People would get suspicious."</p>
<p>The Outsider shrugged. "Esk, then."</p>
<p>Interesting for a chosen name. The Outsider slammed the bathroom door.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>This plumbing thing was <em>fascinating</em>. The Outsider had never properly appreciated it before.</p>
<p>And hot water. That too. The Void never varied in temperature. The heat was lovely. It soothed the ache in his ribs.</p>
<p>And this sleeping thing. He couldn't figure it out. He lay, the covers arranged neatly over him, unsure what he was supposed to do.</p>
<p>"Corvo? How do you sleep?"</p>
<p>He could hear the man roll over in bed. "Get comfy, close your eyes, and wait."</p>
<p>"That's all?" The Outsider was disappointed. Sleep seemed so mystical somehow—there should be more to it than that.</p>
<p>"Yes. Now be quiet. It's late."</p>
<p>The Outsider mentally shrugged, and experimented with the blankets. He finally found himself curled in a tight little ball, the blankets covering everything but his eyes.</p>
<p>His eyes. He closed them. Unnerving, to be without sight. Or foresight. He found his mind drifting, as it often did when he was bored.</p>
<p>
  <em>He remembered the first time she'd caught his interest. Vera. She turned down an Emperor's offer of marriage. He was intrigued. What did she want that an Emperor couldn't give her?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He watched as she married Preston Moray, and for a while, he thought he'd figured it out. Moray took her all over the world. They explored the Isles, both the teeming cities and the forgotten places. Then Pandyssia, the great jungles and barren moors, the great mountains and lush seashores. Moray gave her the world, and for a while, Vera seemed content.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>And then something changed. They explored an ancient city, long abandoned. She was restless again. She and Moray poured over notes for hours. She would go out at night, with nothing but a lamp to guide her, and slipped down further into the ruins, into the places that Moray warned her against</em>
  <em>—structurally unsound, the ceiling might collapse</em>
  <em>—but she didn't care. She traced over the glyphs in the stone. She struggled to decipher their secrets.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Finally, the Outsider couldn't stand it anymore. He brought her into the Void.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Hello Vera." She wasn't surprised, or frightened. Rather, she leaned into his every word with a keen interest.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"I've been watching you for some time." He tilted his head, an action that she mirrored. "I've watched you leave an Emperor wanting. I watched as you saw the world. And now, in these ancient places? What do you expect to find there? What secrets are you trying to unlock?"</em>
</p>
<p><em>"Tell me Vera, what is it you </em>want?<em>"</em></p>
<p>* * * * *</p>
<p>This sleep thing.</p>
<p>He woke in a panic. Suddenly dropping back into awareness, the spots of dreams fading behind his eyes. What was this? Like being <em>dead</em>, every night?</p>
<p>He clutched the blankets around him, every panicked breath accompanied by a sharp stab in the ribs. He took shallower breaths, and forced himself to stop hyperventilating.</p>
<p>A beam of sunlight draped itself over the window ledge and across the carpet. The light then wrapped itself around Corvo, who was fastening the buttons on a grey shirt.</p>
<p>The Outsider wrapped himself back up in the blankets and watched for a few moments. The daily rituals of people always struck him as immeasurably boring, occasionally degrading, and wholly unnecessary. But now—there was a lull in the air, of the world waking itself up, and the way the light touched Corvo—shining through the thin fabric, brightening his face and making his green eyes glow—the Outsider saw something else.</p>
<p>A comfort that came of familiarity.</p>
<p>He sat up in the cot, careful not to antagonize his ribs further.</p>
<p>"Sleep well?" Corvo didn't look up, but fastened a multitude of belts around himself, slipping sharp blades into them.</p>
<p>"I don't like it."</p>
<p>"Too boring for you?" Maybe Corvo was teasing, but the Outsider didn't like it.</p>
<p>He picked up the pageboy uniform. "This is for me?"</p>
<p>Corvo nodded. "Should fit well. You'll blend in perfectly."</p>
<p>The Outsider plucked at the various buttons, his fingers clumsy, unused to dealing with this sort of thing. He pulled at the fabric, and heard water running from in the bathroom. After a few minutes, Corvo came out, his face half shaven, clutching a razor. He stared for a few minutes, the burst into laughter.</p>
<p>The Outsider glared. The uniform was twisted around him in uncomfortable ways.</p>
<p>"Give me a few minutes," Corvo said, "and I'll help you out."</p>
<p>The Outsider crumpled back down onto the cot, tugging at the buttons in a futile sort of way. Finally Corvo came out, and talked him through things.</p>
<p>Finally the uniform was on. It felt like a strange sort of skin. The Outsider was so used to his normal clothing that this sensation unnerved him greatly.</p>
<p>He followed Corvo to breakfast.</p>
<p>Another ritual. It seemed casual. A buffet was laid out, and people—employees of the Tower, it looked like—grabbed food and ate at their leisure.</p>
<p>This food—</p>
<p>"Try everything," Corvo advised him, his voice conspicuously loud. "It's not as rich as Tyvian fare, but I daresay you'll grow used to it."</p>
<p>So he was to be from Tyvia, then.</p>
<p>A captain of the guard sat next to Corvo with a loaded plate. "Good morning, my Lord." He gestured towards the Outsider. "Who's this?"</p>
<p>The Outsider tried to force down some food as Corvo spoke. "His name is Esk. I met his parents while I was in Tyvia a while back. They wanted me to teach him court protocol."</p>
<p>The guard nodded. "Let me welcome you to Dunwall," he said, turning to the Outsider, who struggled with swallowing. "Food not quite what you're used to? I'm sure our chefs could whip up something more familiar for you."</p>
<p>The Outsider winced. The sensation of something sliding down his throat was awful. He swallowed back a gag. "Thank you," he said, his voice a bit raspy.</p>
<p>The guard grinned and whacked him on the back. The Outsider gasped as the pain in his ribs bloomed. "You'll do fine here!" the guard said cheerfully, then mercifully left them to their breakfast.</p>
<p>Corvo frowned at him. "Are you all right?"</p>
<p>"Ribs…" Every time he shifted, it felt like the muscles in his chest were scraping against bone, causing a fresh wave of agony.</p>
<p>"What happened?"</p>
<p>"Slackjaw's boys didn't take too kindly to me last night."</p>
<p>"Ah." Corvo nodded. "Unfortunately, Sokolov is out at Kaldwin's Bridge for the next few days, but I can get you something for the pain. Do you think they're broken?"</p>
<p>"How should I know?" The idea of having to meet Sokolov rankled him.</p>
<p>"Well, let's keep an eye on things. Rib injuries can turn nasty, and even barring that, they hurt like hell."</p>
<p>They finished breakfast. The Outsider left most of his food untouched.</p>
<p>Being mortal was <em>dreadful</em>.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>The Outsider followed Corvo obediently down into the basement of the Tower. They paused outside a door simply marked LAB, and Corvo knocked.</p>
<p>"Come in!"</p>
<p>The LAB was a brightly lit spacious room, although all the space was crammed with tables, equipment, crates, shelving, and other miscellany. A man in a green jacket had his back turned towards them. He was peering into a microscope.</p>
<p>"I'll be with you in a moment," he said, his voice slow and clear. He finally turned around. "How can I help you—"</p>
<p>And then his eyes lit on the Outsider. They widened, and he quickly backed away, falling backwards over his table with a loud crash.</p>
<p>Corvo rushed around to help him out. The Outsider couldn't help smirking. Piero Joplin. He'd haunted <em>those</em> dreams for a long time. It never occurred to him that the man would resent him for it.</p>
<p>As soon as he was on his feet, Piero grabbed Corvo and dragged him behind a tall shelf. The Outsider could hear whispered fragments of their conversation.</p>
<p>"…don't know what you're playing at, Corvo, but whatever it is, leave me out of it."</p>
<p>The Outsider carefully put his eye to the microscope. He wasn't sure what he was looking at, but it was crystalline and beautiful.</p>
<p>"…just need some…not for long. I promise."</p>
<p>He fiddled with the knobs, watching the image blur in and out of focus.</p>
<p>"Whatever. Just as long as…"</p>
<p>The Outsider carefully reached down and switched lenses, getting an even closer view. While trying to focus the image, however, he turned the knob too far and the lens smacked into the slide, cracking it.</p>
<p>He quickly moved the lens up again, and examined the cracks in the glass with a new fascination.</p>
<p>"Fine. Here. Go."</p>
<p>Corvo stepped out from behind the shelf. "Come," he said to the Outsider, who followed him, but not without glancing back to see Piero swearing over the broken slide.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Corvo handed him the pain medication. "Three times a day," he said. "And try to breathe normally."</p>
<p>The Outsider didn't mention that he had no idea what normal was.</p>
<p>The ache eased soon enough. They were holed up in a study in the Tower, Corvo going over paperwork. The Outsider flipped through a few books before reshelving them.</p>
<p>"You could've been nicer to him," Corvo said, without looking up.</p>
<p>The Outsider turned around. "What?"</p>
<p>"Piero. You could've been nicer to him."</p>
<p>The Outsider squinted. "Why?"</p>
<p>"Because he was doing something for you."</p>
<p>The Outsider shrugged. "I don't see why that merits me being nice."</p>
<p>"You get further in this world by treating people with respect," Corvo said. "I know you haven't had to worry about that much, but it'll make your time here easier."</p>
<p>"I did something for you, as I recall," the Outsider said petulantly. "You've never been very nice to me."</p>
<p>Corvo sighed. "True," he said. The Outsider suspected that the man was merely saying this in order to pound the lesson in further. "I'll do better in the future."</p>
<p>"As will I."</p>
<p>He plopped down on a sofa.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>